The Government of India has issued a notification entrusting the National Council of Educational Research and Training (NCERT) with the responsibility of granting equivalence to Secondary (Class 10) and Senior Secondary (Class 12) certificates awarded by various School Education Boards in India. This equivalence will be applicable for the purpose of admission of students to higher education institutions as well as for employment under the Central Government, State Governments and Union Territories.

The notification was published in the e-Gazette on 6th September 2025 by the Department of School Education and Literacy, Ministry of Education. It supersedes the earlier notification dated 15th November 2021, under which the Association of Indian Universities (AIU) was entrusted with this responsibility. Under the new arrangement, NCERT will carry out this role through its National Assessment Centre, Performance Assessment, Review and Analysis of Knowledge for Holistic Development (PARAKH), which was established under the provisions of the National Education Policy (NEP) 2020.

The institutional mechanism through PARAKH will ensure that the process of determining equivalence is academically rigorous, robust and transparent, thereby maintaining the highest educational standards. The system will apply to all Central Government, State Government and private Indian School Boards established by an Act of Parliament or State Legislature, through executive orders of Central or State Governments, or by statutory bodies and recognised institutions empowered to do so.

Equivalence granted by NCERT will hold validity at the national level and will automatically ensure inter-se parity among School Boards across India. This move will facilitate smooth migration of students from one Board to another and help streamline the process for admissions and employment across the country.